Recording apparatus



Sept. .27, 1938. r M. ARTZT 7 RECORDING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 29, 1934 Patented Sept. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE mesne assignments, to

Radio Corporation of America, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application September 29, "1934, Serial No. 746,099

7 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in recording apparatus. v

In one form of recording apparatus for facsimile work, a record sheet and a carbon sheet are superimposed on each other and they are moved slowly through the apparatus at a rate of the order of one inch every minute. Simultaneously with this action, the sheets are scanned by the cooperative action of a rotatable drum, about which the sheets pass, and a vibratory printer bar supported parallel to the axis of rotation of the drum. The drum is provided with a helical ridge protruding from its surface and extendin from end to end of the drum and about the same through 360. As the drum rotates, at the rate the order of two revolutions a second, the point of intersection between the helical ridge and the operating edge of the printer bar travels in a straight line across the sheets, from one side to the other. In this way, one line of the picture is scanned. During the next revolution of the drum, another line is scanned, slightly removed from the preceding line.

Electromagnetic means which actuate the printer bar are supplied with the incoming picture signals and cause this bar to engage the sheets, whereby the same are pinched between the helical ridge of the rotating drum and the operating edge of the printer bar. The carbon 0 sheet is disposed between the record sheet and the printer bar, so that a facsimile of the transmitted I picture is recorded on the outer surface of the record sheet, whch is adjacent to the effective side of the carbon sheet.

Recording apparatus of the type referred to is disclosed in Patent No. 1,848,862 of March 8, 1932, and Patent No. 1,967,072 of July 17, 1934.

While apparatus of the general type referred to has been found to be satisfactory for reproducing a picture in facsimile work, there is the requirement that carbon paper be used. Furthermore, the carbon paper must be of a particular size and perforated along the edges thereof in a particular way to adapt itself to the elements for 0 feeding the sheets through the apparatus.

Also, in the apparatus referred to above; the

particular part of a picture being recorded at any.

time cannot be seen until the sheets have moved through the apparatus a substantial distance so that this part of the picture is beyond the printer bar and that section of the carbon paper immediately at theprinter bar which obstructs the view.

With the foregoing in mind, it is one of the objects of my invention to provide an improved recording apparatus of the. character referred to which requires the use of only a single sheet, that is, the record sheet itself, and in which that portion of the record being made on the sheet at any instant is visible.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In accordance with my invention, the record sheet is sensitive to pressure in-the sense that a mark is made when the sheet is pinched or pressed between two intersecting edges. The respective positions of the scanning members in the apparatus constructed heretofore are reversed. ihe rotating scanning member is in the form of a spider provided witha helical operating edge and 1 through which the record sheet can be seen as this member rotates so that the actual printing of the record can, therefore, be watched.

My invention resides in the improved construction of the character hereinafter described and claimed.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention, an embodiment thereof is shown in the drawing, wherein Figure l is a perspective view of recording apparatus constructed and operating in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic View of my improved apparatus, looking toward the left in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view showing the manner in which the rotating scanning member made; and 1 Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2, showing a modification.

With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, my improved recording apparatus comprises plates in and i2 disposed in parallel planes and supporting a roll M from which a record sheet I6 is fed. The sheet it passes over a guide rod l8 and between a rubber driving roll 20 and rubber rolls 22 disposed on a rotatable shaft 24.

The sheet [6 is of paper which is sensitive to pressure in the sense that when any elemental area of the sheet is pinched or pressed between two intersecting edges a mark is made at this point, on the outside surface 26 of the sheet.

The sheet I6 is scanned by the cooperative action of a rotatable member 28 and a printer bar 30 disposed, respectively, on opposite sides of the sheet, the rotatable member being disposed on that side of the sheet on which the record or picture is produced.

The member 28 is provided with an operating helical edge 32 extending across the sheet l6 and about the axis of rotation of this member through 360.

The printer bar 30 is provided with an operating edge-34 parallel to the axis of rotation of the member 28. The printer bar is spring-biased away from the sheet l6 and is driven to the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, by suitable electromagnetic means represented at 36 and which are supplied with picture signals by the connections 38.

In operation, the record sheet is fed through the apparatus in the direction indicated" by the arrow at a rate of the order of one inch every minute, and the member 28 is rotated, in the direction indicated by the arrows, at a rate of the order of two revolutions a second.

For every revolution of the scanning member 28, the point of intersection of the operating edge 34 of the printer bar and the helical edge 32 travels once straight across the record sheet l6, and only from left to right, as viewed in Fig. 1. Since the sheet I 6 is being fed slowly through the apparatus, as explained, and the member 28 is rotating simultaneously at a relatively high rate, the entire area of the record sheet is scanned. However, no mark or record is made on the outside surface 26 of; the record sheet until the printer bar 30 is actuated by an electrical signal to cause it to strike the sheet, in which 4 case the position of the mark is determined by the actual position of the helical edge 32 at that instant, or, in other words, the distance to the right of the point of intersection referred to.

As shown in Fig. 2, the record sheet, at the section thereof between the printer bar and the rotary member 28, is in a plane tangent to the cylinder generated-by the helical edge 32 as it rotates.

It is proposed to make the member 28 by first making a piece 28a from sheet metal and provided with an edge 32a concentric about the center point at. The piece 28a is provided with inwardly extending arms 40, each provided with a circular hole 42. The holes 42 are concentric about the center point :c. The ends of the piece 28a are then pulled in opposite directions to stretch out the piece and give it approximately the shape shown in Fig. 1, after which the arms 40 are twisted to align the openings 42 to receive a drive shaft 44. The assembly is then placed in a lathe and the helical edge turned so that it is disposed in a cylinder having its axis coincide with the shaft 44.

The shaft 44 is supported for rotation between the plates l0 and I2, and is driven from a motor 46 through a suitable worm gearing disposed in a casing 48.

The driving roll 20 for feeding the record sheet l6 through the apparatus is driven at the required rate from the shaft44, through suitable worm gearing disposed in a casing 50.

Since the mechanical driving connections from the common driving motor 46 to the shaft 44 and to the feed roll 20 form no part of my present invention and will be well understood by those skilled in the art, no detail disclosure of the same is believed to be necessary.

By reason of the open construction of rotating scanning member 28, which is in the form of a spider or open frame such as is used for lawn mower blades, the record sheet is always visible through this member from a position such as that represented at 1 Therefore, the actual printing process, as the printer bar is actuated by the picture signals to press or pinch the record sheet between its operating edge 34 and the helical operating edge 32, can be watched.

The record sheet l6 may be of paper which marks with brass, such as the kind of paper used for making indicator cards. In such case, the rotatable member 28 will be made of brass. As an alternative, 8. wax-covered colored paper may be used for the record sheet [6, the pressure occasioned during the scanning action operating to remove or iron the wax to expose the color oi. the paper or otherwise cause a mark on the surface 26 thereof to be visible.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, the helical edge 01' the rotary member 28 is kept moist with ink by any suitable means such as a felt inking roller 52. The marks comprising the record are then made by the action of the printer bar causing the sheet IE to engage the inked edge 32. In such case, the sheet I 6 need not be pressuresensitive.

While but two embodiments of my invention have been disclosed, it will be understood that various modifications, within the conception of those skilled in the art, are possible without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. Recording apparatus comprising means for supporting a record sheet for production of a record on a side thereof, complementary members for scanning said sheet and disposed respectively on opposite sides thereof, one of said members being in the form of an open frame and being disposed on said side of said sheet and provided with a helical operating edge and supported for rotation, the other of said members having a vibrating operating edge parallel to the axis of rotation of said rotatable member, means for imparting movement to said sheet, and means for rotating said rotatable member. v

2. Recording apparatus comprising means for supporting a record sheet for production of a record on a side thereof, complementary members for scanning said sheet and disposed respectively on opposite sides thereof, one of said members being in the form of a spider and provided with a helical edge and supported on said side of said sheet for rotation, the other of said members having a vibrating operating edge parallel to the axis of rotation of said rotatable member, means for imparting movement to said sheet, and means for rotating said rotatable member.

3. Recording apparatus comprising means for supporting a record sheet for production of a record on a side thereof, complementary members for scanning said sheet and disposed respectively on opposite sides thereof, one of said members being supported on said side of said sheet for rotation and provided with a helical operating edge, said rotatable member being in the form of an open frame whereby it displays to the view of the operator that portion of the record sheet on which the record is being made at the instant as such portion passes between said members, means for imparting movement to said sheet, and means for rotating said rotatable member.

4. Recording apparatus comprising means for supporting a record sheet for production of a record on a side thereof, complementary members for scanning said sheet and disposed respectively on opposite sides thereof, one of said members being supported on said side of said sheet for rotation and provided with a helical operating edge, said rotatable member comprising a helical element provided with said helical edge and a plurality of supporting arms for said element extending radially inwardly therefrom toward the axis of rotation and spaced from each other in a direction along said axis, means for imparting movement to said sheet, and means for rotating said rotatable member.

5. Recording apparatus comprising means for supporting a record sheet for production of a record on a side thereof, complementary members for scanning said sheet and disposed respectively on opposite sides thereof, one of said members being supported on said side of said sheet for rotation and provided with a helical operating edge; said rotatable member comprising a helical element provided with said helical edge, a plurality of supporting arms for said element extending radially inwardly therefrom toward the axis of rotation and spaced from each other in a direction along said axis, and a supporting shaft ex- 20 tending through the inner ends of said arms;

means for imparting movement to said sheet, and means for rotating said shaft.

6. In recording apparatus, the combination of a helical scanning member, a supporting shaft, a plurality of substantially equally spaced radial arms carried from the shaft and supporting the helical member, and a complementary linear scanning member parallel to the shaft. '7. Recording apparatus comprising a record sheet, a supporting means for said sheet, driving means for advancing said sheet, a shaft connected to said driving means and positioned parallel to said sheet, a helical scanning member on one side of said sheet, a plurality of substantially equally spaced radial arms for supporting the helical member from said shaft, and a complementary scanning member positioned on the other side of the sheet.

1 MAURICE AR'IZT. 

